Whitewater’s residents may have recently read (3.7.17) another City of Whitewater press release from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) – this time concerning more public spending on selected businesses. (For remarks on a prior release, please see The Simplest Condition for a ‘Shovel-Ready’ Site is an Empty Lot.) There are few better ways to argue against…
122 search results for ""WEDC""
City, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, WEDC
The Simplest Condition for a ‘Shovel-Ready’ Site is an Empty Lot
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Whitewater’s residents may have recently read (just yesterday) a City of Whitewater press release about a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) designation for the city’s thirty-five empty acres of tech park land. I’ve reproduced the release in full at the bottom of this post. A few key points: 1. The simplest condition for a “shovel ready” site is…
City
James Fallows on ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed’ (Part 2)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
I wrote yesterday about James Fallows‘s ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed.’ Today’s post considers whether his list applies to Whitewater, and how Whitewater fares if items on the list – at least in part – apply to our small city. One word of caution applies to Fallows’s list: it was compiled after he visited cities larger than Whitewater.…
University
The Former Chancellor’s Only Weakness
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Months ago, as then-Chancellor Richard Telfer was preparing for retirement, then-Provost Beverly Kopper thought about his career, and spotted only one weakness: Chancellor Richard Telfer has only one weakness, according to Beverly Kopper, provost at UW-Whitewater. This weakness isn’t being a bad listener or not being able to do his job. His weakness is only…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, University, Waste Digesters, WEDC, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Here’s the ninth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater for 2015. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions are available for comparison. The list runs in reverse order, from mildly frightening to truly scary. 10. The Coming Ferret Invasion. Alternative title: The Unprepared Will Be Doomed. Earlier this year,…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Liberty, Local Government, WEDC
Business v. Free Markets
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Over at Cato, David Boaz writes about The Divide between Pro-Market and Pro-Business. (I’ve also linked to Boaz’s post at my libertarian website, Daily Adams.) Boaz observes that, too often, business (especially big business) is an opponent of free markets: In 2014 big business opposed several of the most free-market members of Congress, and even a Ron Paul-aligned…
Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending, Politics, WEDC
The Weakness of Sugar Cubes
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
When conditions are dry, sugar cubes are fairly sturdy. When placed in coffee, they don’t last long. View image | gettyimages.com Cronyism is like this – it does well in the dry jar of municipal officials, insiders, press-toads, big-business lobbyists, and their lightheaded cheerleaders. In the bracing coffee of careful analysis, sound economics, and impartial…
City, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, Press, WEDC
What City Officials and the Press Haven’t Told You About the HyPro Layoffs
by JOHN ADAMS • • 13 Comments
Updated, 9.9.15, 2 PM, and bumped forward from original 9.8.15 post date. I’m always eager for more discussion about WEDC – To reconcile the figures of $1,300,000 and $262,000: There are differences in the dollar amounts of tax credits depending on whether one considers the maximum authorized or the amount HyPro has so far taken. In…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending, WEDC
The New Crony Capitalist
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday appointed banking executive and frequent GOP donor Mark Hogan to lead the state’s troubled job-creation agency [WEDC]….. M&I Bank faced its own problems several years ago with bad loans and a crashing stock price and ended up being absorbed by BMO Harris of Canada in 2011. M&I loan losses during…
Business, CDA, City, Development, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, WEDC
Business Dependency in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
For residents facing poverty, one would hope for, and understand, a combination of private and public relief. Churches and other private organizations do much in this effort; government expenditures for the genuinely needy amount to a small portion of all government spending. Support of this kind is a worthy effort. Whitewater also has two large…
Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending, WEDC
$124,000,000 Without Underwriters’ Review
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
In its first 15 months, a jobs agency created by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gave businesses 26 awards worth $124.3 million in all without a formal review of the deals by underwriters. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is reporting to its board on the awards made between July 2011 and June 2013 after reports that…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Misconduct, WEDC
Reed Hall’s Inauspicious Choices
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Reed Hall, who ‘boldly,’ ‘innovatively’ uses the private title of CEO for an organization that runs on public money, has written two defenses to his agency’s latest audit fiasco. The first of those appears as a few platitudinous paragraphs online (‘WEDC takes bold, innovative approach to economic development,’ subscription req’d, and the second as a…
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 5.14.15
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning, Whitewater. Thursday will bring cloudy skies, a slight chance of rain, and a high of sixty-five to Whitewater. Sunrise is 5:32 and sunset 8:10, for 14h 37m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 17.7% of its visible disk illuminated. Quick update: I’ll have a restaurant-themed post today (the Thursday…
Government Spending, Libertarians, Local Government, State Government
The Well Runs Dry
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
As expected, a weak economy, despite four years of talk about spending to create jobs, jobs, jobs means that Wisconsin can expect no additional state revenue to lessen the impact of cuts to education, etc. In fact, revenue projections are below estimates. Here’s the news from the Journal Sentinel this morning (emphasis added): Madison —…